Kuwait Airways (KU, Kuwait) has concluded an agreement with Airbus (AIB, Toulouse Blagnac) to restructure its outstanding order book.
Chairman Ali Al-Dakhan told a press conference on Monday, February 21, that under the revised plan, the state-owned carrier's backlog now consists of the following aircraft:
- nine A320-200Ns featuring 134 seats;
- six A321-200Ns featuring 169 seats;
- three A321-200NX(LR)s featuring 169 seats;
- four A330-800s featuring 235 seats;
- seven A330-900s featuring 291 seats;
- two A350-900s featuring 326 seats.
Ninety percent of the order will be delivered in 2026, with the last due by 2028. The airline's fleet currently consists of seven A320-200s, six A320neo, five A330-200s, two A330-800s, and ten B777-300(ER)s.
Al-Dukhan said the new deal will increase Kuwait Airways' number of seats by 15% compared to the original 2014 deal, noting that the most important element is the greater flexibility the airline has through the increase in the number of narrowbody aircraft from the previous 40%, to 50%. As such, Kuwait will be better able to open up new routes in Europe, Africa, Southeast Asia, and North America as part of efforts to grow its reach to 100 destinations within two years from the 57 it currently serves.
The perennially loss-making carrier now expects to reach break-even in 2026.
